Mercedes explain strategy that backfired for George Russell

Russell had launched past pole-sitter Max Verstappen in the early exchanges in Melbourne but, when the Safety Car came out due to Alex Albon’s crash, Mercedes pitted their driver to provide hard tyres.

A red flag shortly afterwards meant Mercedes’ decision backfired and Russell eventually retired with a power unit problem.

Mercedes chief technical officer James Allison explained: “That early in the race it’s right on the cusp of whether a Safety Car stop is going to help you out or leave you worse off.

“When that happened, we chose to split our cars. 

“We brought George in but left Lewis Hamilton out because at that point it’s very finely balanced, whether you are going to get a benefit from the stop or not.

“By bringing one in and not the other then you are splitting your risk. It’s like an each-way bet.

“It looked post that decision that we probably did the right thing with George to bring him in, just from getting the best out of a cheap pit stop under the Safety Car. 

“But all that was rendered completely null and void when the red flag was then pulled out just a few seconds later.”

Allison said about where Russell might have finished without his engine issue: “He was obviously a little ill-served by that red flag, he lost a few slots on the grid instead of benefitting from the Safety Car stop that we hoped we would give to him.

“But he would have had a strong race. He showed good pace all the way through the weekend, good in qualifying, strong start, good race pace and was set fair for a good result even if he had been ill-served by the fortune of the red flag.”